People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) yesterday officially signed up for the Jan. 14 presidential election, calling on the public to look beyond party lines and vote for him.
Ending months of speculation about his determination to join the race, Soong and his running mate, Lin Ruey-shiung (林瑞雄), completed the registration process at the Central Election Commission (CEC) and promised to improve the overall environment for Taiwanese at a press conference together with the party’s legislator-at-large candidates.
“Elections in democratic societies look to elect wise and capable candidates, rather than pan-blue or pan-green [candidates]. Taiwan has suffered from the vicious conflict between the two camps in the past 10 years, and people should put a stop to this and find new hope through their ballot,” Soong said.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Amid cheers from about 100 supporters chanting “Let’s send Soong to the Presidential Office,” Soong slammed President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), accusing them of poor performance and incompetence in leading the nation forward. He also accused the former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration of corruption.
“Ma launched a ‘home stay’ campaign; I think we should let those who don’t have the people in mind ‘stay home,’” he said.
“The DPP’s presidential campaign slogan is ‘Taiwan Next,’ but Taiwan should be the first. I will make Taiwan the pride of Asia,” he said.
The Soong-Lin ticket was the third team to formally throw its hat into the ring, following the lead of the KMT ticket of Ma and Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and the DPP pairing of Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全).
Lin displayed a document he said would dispel rumors that he possesses dual citizenship. The document, issued by the US Department of State on Monday, reads “certificate of loss of nationality of the United States.”
According to the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法), aspirants should not hold dual nationality on the date they register their candidacies.
“I am no longer a US citizen, and I think this should stop the rumors,” Lin said.
The commission said it would collect the documents provided by Lin and double-check them with related government agencies.
The issue of Lin’s nationality drew attention after Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明), chairman of a KMT splinter group, the New Party, was quoted in a recent newspaper report as saying that the Soong-Lin ticket might not register for the presidential election because Lin was “probably still a US citizen.”
Soong said he looked forward to hearing a public apology from Yok over the nationality issue.
The PFP also unveiled its list of 18 legislator-at-large candidates, with PFP adviser and National Chengchi University professor Thomas Lee (李桐豪), writer Chang Hsiao-feng (張曉風), former Miaoli County commissioner Fu Hsueh-peng (傅學鵬) and Ming Chuan University assistant professor Chen Yi-jie (陳怡潔) topping the list.
Soong’s registration, viewed as a potential election spoiler in the eyes of the KMT, has put an end to a possible cooperation between the two parties.
Former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) acknowledged that Soong’s participation in the race has engendered a sense of crisis in the pan-blue camp amid fears of a split in the vote.
“Instead of complaining about each other, we should turn this sense of crisis into strength and join efforts to claim victory in the elections,” he said.
Chuang Po-chun (莊伯仲), director of the KMT’s Culture and Communication Committee, said the KMT respected Soong’s decision, adding that the two parties would engage in a gentleman’s race in the presidential and legislative elections.
Additional reporting by CNA
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS